As the copy of the poster to the left indicates, Saugus.net
is now accepting Halloween stories that are
FAXed to
781-231-4719, or dropped off in our drop slot in the Saugus
Town Hall (if you can't get it to us by any of these methods,
give us a phone call at 781-231-2621 and we'll figure out
something else -- if all else fails there's always U.S. Mail)
for our forth annual Ghost Story writing contest.

Our judges will pick out the stories they feel are best
(based on scariness, originality, entertainment value, and
writing quality) for four different categories including:
Adult, High School, Middle School, and Elementary School.
"Does spelling count" you ask? Yes, somewhat, but not as much
as the creepiness and entertainment value of the story. In
any case, all of the chosen stories will be posted online
here by Halloween night, Sunday, October 31, 1999. Don't
forget to tell us in which category you belong and provide
some means for us getting back in touch with you. Let us know
your town, and if you go to school (even college) let us know
which one; if you win, we'll mention both.

If your story gets posted, you'll win a Saugus.net T-shirt
(different from last year's model; see below -- these feature
a glow-in-the-dark logo on a black background) to be handed
out in early November 1999.

Entries must be received no later than October 29th. The
earlier the better, though; keep in mind that if we receive
dozens of stories on the 29th we'll have to rush through them
to get everything ready for Halloween, and thus a story
submitted early probably has a slight advantage because it
can be read more leisurely.

Please try and keep them fairly clean -- lots of people of
all ages will be reading them. Favor the suggestive over the
explicit, and keep in mind that needless obscenities aren't
apt to help your chances any but are likely to cost you
points in the "writing quality" department.

The ideal length is a few typewritten pages, but both
longer and shorter are welcomed. The upper limit (not hard
& fast) is around two dozen typewritten pages -- there is
no lower limit. The preferred format for
is regular text, although we'll also accept both
HTML and
PDF.

Although Saugus.net reserves the rights to print and
potentially reprint all entries received (giving proper
credit on each printing, of course), we aren't claiming them
as our own property -- that means that you retain the
copyrights to your work and are free to reprint it and/or
publish it elsewhere, too, without getting any further
permission from us (although a little blurb like "first
appeared online on Saugus.net" would be appreciated in any
future publications). Of course, even though it need not be
mentioned, entries must respect existing copyrights and may
not be based on copyrighted material without the written
consent of any applicable copyright holders, and material
should not have been published prior to the contest
deadline.

Halloween is a fun time of year and we're likewise holding
this contest completely in a spirit of fun. The results will
hopefully be entertaining to all. Send us your entry (or even
entries, if you'd like) today, and good luck.

Also, on a different note, if you'd like your own personal
copy of the Ghost Story poster, it can be
downloaded
as a PDF
file and printed. You have our permission to repost it.